Plymouth Township Teen Gets 10-20 Years In Plot To Kill Her Family
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A Plymouth Township teenager has been sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison after she stabbed her little brother; and, along with her boyfriend, plotted to kill her family.
Roksana Sikorski's adoptive mother pleaded for leniency in court on Monday. She said her daughter wasn't old enough to sign a confession and didn't intend to hurt the family.
Sikorski, who turned 17 last week, was charged as an adult after investigators said she conspired with her boyfriend, 23-year-old Michael Rivera, to kill other family members so the pair could run away together.
She pleaded guilty in February to one count of assault with intent to murder.
WWJ's Charlie Langton reported the girl apologized prior to the sentencing, crying as she said she was sorry that she couldn't be the daughter her family wished she could be.
Prosecutors said Sikorski stabbed her 12-year-old brother multiple times in the throat on Oct. 17, 2014, and tried to stab her sister, while Rivera was outside her family's home on Glenmore Court — sending her instructions via text message.
Police said Rivera guided the girl, advising her on whether the knife she had was enough to do the job. Other messages included a diagram of the neck, instructions to cut it "like a tomato," and to make sure the victims stopped breathing.
The boy's screams alerted family members, who interrupted the 2 a.m. attack as Sikorski and Rivera fled the area.
He survived the attack and no one else was hurt, but prosecutors said she'd planned to kill all four members of her family.
Roksana Sikorski's attorney Leslie Posner said Laurene and Jeffrey Sikorski believe Rivera convinced their daughter to go along with the murder plot so that he wouldn't face prosecution for having sex with a minor.
Posner earlier told the judge the girl suffers from RAD or reactive attachment disorder, a rare but serious condition that occurs in children who have been neglected and are unable to form a healthy emotional attachment with their primary caregivers, usually their mother, before age five. Roksana Sikorski was 4-years-old when she was adopted from Poland with her sibling, Posner said, adding that she suffered years abuse before coming to America.
Rivera was convicted and was sentenced to life in prison.
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